25 Memories
by J. Maria
Summary: 25 ficlets, drabbles and mini-series based on random character pairings, and set prior to the end of the series for BtVS and Angel. Crosses with SPN, Psych, Sky High, That 70's, Dawson's Creek, Blade, Happy Feet, Animaniacs, TMNT, LXG & PoTC.
1. All for You

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: All For You  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney & P.L. Travers owns Mary Poppins  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficelets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Mary gives him a gift.  
Words: 315  
Pairing: Spike/Mary Poppins  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. Also, as befitting of the title, all of the chapters are in the past - nothing is set after 2003-2004 (when both Buffy and Angel series were off the air).  
A/N: Set in 1910, after shes left the Banks home.

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25 Memories

  
All For You

She found herself back in London, near Cherry Tree Lane. Again. Fortunately, the Banks family did not need her services again. Her feet touched gently to the ground as she pulled her umbrella down to close it.

"If it ain't bloody Mary Poppins," an unfamiliar voice sounded off behind her.

Mary knew it couldn't be Bert, for they had scheduled an appointment in the chalk drawing for the Saturday next. She really shouldn't be encouraging him, but he was such a sweet man. Making sure her hat was still set at a jaunty angle, she turned to face the - well, _creature_.

"Ah, William. You've taken a very bad turn, young man," Mary sighed, noting the unhealthy pallor of his skin. Despite his lack of warm clothing, he didn't seem to feel the winter's chill. "You were such a kind child."

"And then I ate me mum," William snarled at her, lunging for her throat. "And now I'll eat my nanny."

She didn't struggle away from him. Didn't try to fend off his attack, she simply let him chew on her neck for a moment or so. It was a good nanny's job to let the children learn through trial and error. William recoiled and spat out a mouthful of her blood, confusion in his eyes as they receded from the feral yellow to his own mortal visage. Mary felt her skin stitch itself up and the bloodstains on her gown simply vanished.

"Bloody hell!"

"It is always wise for one to ascertain whom one is eating before the meal, William. A vampire, such as yourself should not feed on an Immortal. Especially since _this_ immortal took care of you when you were still in leading strings!"

William spun away, looking for a much easier meal for the evening. Mary huffed as she spun to retrieve her carpetbag.

"Silly vampires. My blood will certainly bring an interesting future for him."


	2. Cloud Nine xxxx Spencer&Summers family

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Cloud Nine  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, owns  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Family gatherings.  
Words: 586  
Pairing: Joyce Summers/Henry Spencer (Psych)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Connected to the stories in both _Hobble Gobble_ and _Black Friday Massacre_. No real spoilers in that, seeing as this is set in 1985, and is one of the made-up Dawn memories.

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25 Memories

  
Cloud Nine

Joyce waddled around the table to get to where Buffy was yanking on Shawn's arm. Madeleine and Hank were in the living room discussing some family business, and Henry was in the kitchen getting the food ready, which left a very pregnant Joyce to wrangle 8-year-old Shawn and 4-year-old Buffy who where constantly kicking and picking at each other.

"Buffy Anne, it's not nice to pull on your cousin Shawn!" Joyce scolded.

"But he hit me, Mommy!" Buffy whined, giving her cousin's arm another sharp pull.

"Shawn, why did you hit your cousin?" Henry asked, coming into the dining room just in time to hear Buffy's accusation.

"I didn't! She walked into my hand!"

"Shawn, you know better."

"Not nice to hit girls," Buffy pulled again, crowing up at her bigger cousin.

"You're not a girl, you're a mutant from outer space!" Shawn snapped, yanking himself free from her grasp.

Buffy stumbled back into Henry's legs, hitting her hand on one of the chairs. Big fat crocodile tears welled up in her eyes and she howled against Henry's legs.

"I'm not a mu'tat! Shawnie, you big stinky meanie!"

Shawn took his opportunity to flee the scene, leaving his father scowling after him. Joyce rolled her eyes at her daughter's waterworks. Henry scooped up the little blonde terror and rocked her back and forth.

"You should sit down, Joyce."

"I would, but my back is killing me," Joyce smiled as she watched Buffy's eyes started to droop.

"You sure you want another one?" Henry teased, rocking Buffy while he pulled a stack of holiday-themed plates from the counter.

"Its a little late to turn back now," Joyce gave him a tired smile. "Besides, Hank's really excited for a little boy just like Shawn."

"Shawn's a stupid-mu'tat head," Buffy murmured sleepily against Henry's shoulder. "I wanna sister!"

"Ah, Princess Buffy has spoken," Henry chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"What about you and Madeleine? Are you guys thinking of trying for another one?"

"I think Shawn's enough for us for right now," Henry looked away from her all too knowing eyes.

Madeleine and Henry's marriage was just as strained as her and Hank's marriage. That was why she was so desperate to give him the little boy he'd been dreaming about since his cousin Henry had announced the birth of his son Shawn eight years ago. Joyce knew that Hank loved Buffy, but part of him wanted a boy to name after his grandfather Henrik Deiter, who'd had four daughters. Hank and Henry's mothers were competitive to the extreme, and had boys within months of each other. That competition had passed down onto the two cousins, but more heavily onto Hank.

"Do you two know the sex yet?" Henry asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"No. He's being bashful," Joyce smiled. "Though Lord knows, Hank's been determined to find out."

"Have you thought of names?"

"Henrik James," she responded immediately.

"And if its a girl?"

"I - I haven't really thought of that, and Hank's so sure it will be a boy."

"You have to be prepared for anything," he countered. "Personally, I always liked the name Dawn Marie, after Grandmother Deiter. That's what we were going to name Shawn if hed been a girl."

"That's a very pretty name," Joyce smiled, before leaning forward. "Do you mind if I steal it - just in case?"

"Help yourself. Knowing my luck, if we do decide to have another one, it'll be a boy just like Shawn."


	3. Telegram Warning of Impending

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Telegram Warning of Impending  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney and Bruckheimer own PotC  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Someones ruining Christmas on the Island  
Words: 711  
Pairing: Kendra/Tia Dalma (PotC)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). Theyre memories.  
A/N: I can't remember how young Kendra said she was when she was raised by her Watcher. I'm making her about 5 in this story (so this would be set in 1988? (if Kendra was fifteen/sixteen when she was Chosen)) and pre-Mr. whatever his name was (Zubuto?).

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25 Memories

  
Telegram Warning of Impending

She was never to go into the copse of trees by herself. None of the village children were supposed to. But she had to, because she needed to get that pretty flower she'd seen growing up on the vine. Her mother had said that it was a special flower that her own mother had once gathered for her back when they grew all over the island. When the goddess still lived there.

Kendra tied the hem of her dress back and slipped away into the thick green foliage, disappearing from sight. She clamored up the slick moss-covered rocks and stretched her tiny arm as far as she could. Leaning out onto the branch, her tiny fingers wrapped around the delicate stem and plucked the last bud from the vine.

There was a sickening crack as the branch she was leaning on disappeared from beneath her. Kendra let out a small shriek as she went plummeting down to the hard ground below, her vision going black.

When she finally blinked her eyes open, the warm amber glow of a fire replaced the lush green of the woods. A gasp escaped her as she fumbled for her mother's flower.

"Be ye looking for this, child?" a harsh and husky voice sounded from above her.

Kendra bit her trembling lip and let her gaze wander up to the face of the Whispered Woman. She would not scream or cry. Her mother had told her that the Whispered Woman would not hurt an innocent child, even though the other women of the village swore she would. Her dress was different than the ones the village elders wore, older and odder, and between her fingers she twirled Kendra's flower. Remembering what she had asked, Kendra nodded once. Stretching her hand out, she spoke bravely.

"Aye, I picked it for my mother. May I have it?"

"Such a good little girl. Think you that bein' good is de wisest choice?" the Whispered Woman gave her a frightening grin.

"It's best to be good. Bein' wicked leads to trouble," Kendra quoted her mother's own words back to the woman.

"Ye will parrot back anything they tell ye," the grin turned into a snarl, and Kendra scooted farther back on the cot, but she did not whimper. "Ye mother sent ye for this?"

"No," Kendra blinked up at her. "It was pretty. I wanted to give it to my mother as a gift."

Tia Dalma, for that was the name of this form that she took, straightened at the confused and truthful response. She knew that Alyse Tiero was the village midwife, knew that Alyse had tried for years to make her barren womb fertile again. The Tiero line had passed down the knowledge she had given them when she'd been trapped in her mortal form. Alyse was the only one who knew the magical properties of this plant. But it was far too late to take back the curse Tia Dalma had uttered in haste.

Giving her blessing to the plant, she knelt before the girl. Her future was not a pretty one - not now, not after what she'd done in haste. She gently set the delicate bloom in her lap.

"Ye give that to yer mother, tell her she has it wit' Tia Dalma's blessing, ye hear?" Tia Dalma murmured. "And ye be blessed wit ten years of luck little one, for bein' so good a girl. Ye keep being good."

"Yes."

"Get ye away from this place. Ye mother is lookin for ye."

Kendra hopped down from the cot and raced to the door. She pumped her little legs as fast as they could carry her and she didn't stop running until she reached the sandy beach just north of the village. Her mother was indeed waiting for her, tears in her eyes as Kendra recounted the whole story. Beside her stood a stranger, a tall man she'd never seen before.

"Oh, my child, how blessed you have been," the man said, leaning down and smiling into her face. Kendra was reminded of Tia Dalma's face. He looked over her head to her mother, nodding.

"Ye have been chosen, Kendra, and it is indeed an honor, my daughter," Alyse said tearfully, cradling the flower to her chest.


	4. Northern Sky

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Northern Sky  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-13  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, I think Dreamworks owns Happy Feet.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Zoo trips are always memorable.  
Words: 288  
Pairing: Buffy Summers/Mumble (Happy Feet)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: My memory of the movie is a bit hazy. But I remember the little girl. I think she was blonde. If not, we're making her so. Set in the past (because I don't think penguins can tell time or the date for that matter) back when her parents were still married, and she was fairly young. And it's a made up Dawnie memory too.  
A/N2: Not that anyone needs to know this, but OMG. Was so confusing this with The Penguin and the Pebble for some reason! Which I think I watched on TV not to long ago by sheer accident (me and my mother had a heated convo about how weird/stupid/random older cartoons can be and were bitching in general about the movie.)

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25 Memories

  
Northern Sky

Buffy hated the zoo. It was for babies, and she definitely was not a baby. But Dawnie was having fun, and these days it seemed like that was all that mattered to her parents. After being ignored for a third time, she huffed off and ran into the Penguin house.

The first thing that hit her was the smell. Why did they have to take animals from the wild and cram them into places like this? She'd asked before and her dad had said something about protecting engendered species or something like that. Whatever that meant.

She leaned against the glass and huffed. Her stupid parents hadn't even noticed that she'd left them. The glass felt really cold on her skin, which made up for the tears that she definitely was not crying over being ignored. Again. Her fingers tapped against the glass as she watched the penguins waddle around and slip beneath the ice.

Movement up on the fake ice pulled her eyes up from the water. Her mouth dropped open as she felt her arm being jerked back. She looked up at her father reluctantly.

"Buffy, what have we told you about wandering off? Anything could have happened to you! Why can't you ever just _listen_ to what -"

"I just wanted to see the penguins, and you weren't listening, Daddy! Look at that penguin! He's dancing!" Buffy turned away from her father, pointing to the penguin.

"Penguins can't dance, Buffy," Hank muttered, but he looked anyway.

The penguin, Mumble kept on dancing, now that he'd found his song in his heart. The little pale thing had given a bit of it back to him, and he kept dancing on and on until they returned him to his home.


	5. Ain't No Other Man

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Aint No Other Man  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Marvel owns Blade.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Tempting offers.  
Words: 390  
Pairing: Darla/Deacon Frost (Blade)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set before the series and movie by about a year, so '96-'97.

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25 Memories

  
Ain't No Other Man

"You certainly are ambitious, I'll give you that," Darla drawled, her catholic school uniform skirt swishing around her as she circled the room.

"I strive to impress you and your master," Deacon snorted, pulling one of his familiars closer for a drink.

"It's that snaky little attitude that I find so amusing, Frost," Darla laughed, dipping her cup into the blood fountain.

"Seriously, though, what do you see in that decrepit old bag of bones and blood you serve? You're literally rooted in that rinky-dink town with a limited blood pool."

"The Master gave me a better life, so you better watch your tone little man," Darla snarled, wheeling on him. "And there is purpose to what I do. Screw you and your little political games. I stopped trying to play by those rules long ago. You should really try it."

"Aw, is the bitch queen whining again?" Quinn muttered from behind her.

Darla's face morphed into a mask of cruel and terrifying beauty as she grabbed Quinn by the throat and slammed him against the wall. The bigger man struggled against her hand.

"Respect your elders, you waste of blood."

"Really, Darla, is this entirely necessary? I kinda need Quinn," Deacon chuckled. "Quinn might be an idiot but he has his uses."

"You really ought to pick your minions better."

"This coming from the woman who sired Angelus."

Darla glared at him before tossing Quinn to the side. The bigger vampire crashed into the sofa, knocking a few familiars and lesser minions over. Smoothing her skirt and giving her hair a fluff, she turned back to Frost.

"Sore subject, Darla?"

"At least the Daywalker isn't cutting a swath through the Master's ranks."

"Ouch. That really hurt. It could be worse. Rumor has it that the new slayer was activated in L.A. That's not so far from your little town, is it?"

"I have better things to do than argue with you, Frost." She was halfway out the door before she turned back to him. "Feel free to come on down to the Hellmouth once my Master returns. "We'll be bathing in blood every day like it's Christmas day."

"Oh, kinky."

"I'd suggest you stop kissing the Elders collective asses before it gets you killed, Deacon."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you and your Master."


	6. I'll Take You Back

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: I'll Take You Back  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, J.K. owns the Potterverse.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Bitter memories soothed by the oddest woman ever.  
Words: 557  
Pairing: Robin Wood/Luna (HP)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). Theyre memories.  
A/N: Because Robin was about five(?) when Nikki Wood died in the late '70s, that would make him slightly older than the canon age of the HP characters. Set about two years after Voldemort is defeated, so '98-'99.

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25 Memories

  
I'll Take You Back

The snow was drifting down in big, fat white flakes as Robin took out some of his post-adolescent rage out on the two vampires in a back alley in New York. It wasn't the same leech who'd killed his mother, but it was one more monster off the streets. There was a crack of noise behind him, and he turned just in time to see a third vampire burst into flame.

Robin's gaze locked on the slim dirty-blonde haired woman standing at the mouth of the alley. Her dress was a butterscotch color and too thin for her to be wearing in this weather, and her slim shoulders shook a little from the cold. She held a slim piece of wood in her hand that couldn't be a stake.

"Is your mother injured?" the woman asked in a lilting accent.

"What'd you say?" Robin jerked as if slapped.

"I thought I heard you say 'Mama'," she murmured, tilting her head to the side. "Did the vampires attack her?"

"Years ago," he said thickly, noticing her shiver again. "What are you doing out here in that?"

"Searching for Snorkacks. It seemed that this Muggle city is overrun with vampires instead."

"You need to get out of the cold."

Robin checked to see if there were anymore vampires before he led her out of the cold and into a nearby apartment building. Luckily, or not so luckily depending on how you saw it, the vamps had attacked him not far from home. He'd already shrugged off his jacket and wrapped the petite woman in it by the time theyd reached the building.

"I'm afraid I'm not good at wandering with purpose. Harry's admonished me for that," Luna, as she introduced herself as, gave him a loopy smile.

"Is he your boyfriend or uh, brother?" Robin asked.

"No. He's a friend, and a hero. He's saved the world more than anyone has even guessed," Luna gave a solid smile, as if she were remembering something. "He's madly in love with Ginny."

"He's a -"

"Warrior for the light, hmm," Luna nodded, rubbing her hands together. "Was your mother?"

"She was," Robin said quietly.

"You were young when you lost her?" Luna probed, giving him a knowing look.

"Very young."

"I was quite young when my mother died in front of me. A laboratory accident. She was brilliant. Vampires took her?"

"Yeah. What are you, a slayer?"

"A Focal-Witch," Luna explained. "Wand-carrier as apposed to Wiccan Earth Magic users. And a reporter for the _Quibbler_."

"Ah." Robin nodded, not really understanding.

She was quiet for a few moments before speaking again, as she accepted a hastily prepared cup of tea from him.

"You go out and avenge her every night?"

"How'd -"

"A friend of a friend's enemy," Luna blushed prettily at that. "He uses hexes and curses, and occasionally his fists. He's why I am here, actually."

"In New York?"

"Hmm. Pure luck, really, running into you. I mistook you for him for a moment."

"So you're chasing down a black male witch?"

"Wizard. And I've found Blaise down many a corridor such as yours."

"Blaise?"

"His mother was killed by Dark wizards and witches last year. He's hunting."

"You care about him?"

"No, but I understand his grief. Just as I understand yours," Luna murmured. "She was all he had."


	7. Out Tonight

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Out Tonight  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, WB owns the Animaniacs (on which Pinky premiered.)  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: A rat in search of the holiday spirit - in order to take over the world.  
Words: 406  
Pairing: Amy Madison/Pinky (Pinky and the Brain)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in '98/'99 the first year that Amy was a rat.

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25 Memories

  
Out Tonight

Amy didn't even have a Christmas tree in her cage. Sure, Willow had made little comments to her about getting her something festive, but in the end had tried to reason with Amy by saying - repeatedly - that she was Jewish and it would just look weird for her to be worshiping the big fat man.

Of course, none of this made sense to Amy who was still a fricken rat! She paced in her cage as she sat in the library while Willow was researching ways for her to become human again.

"Oooh, look at the new rat, Brain! Zoinks! She's a looker!" came a distinctively annoying squeak from the stacks.

Amy's spine straightened and she rose to her hind legs, peering through the bars of her cage. She could speak rat!

"Hey! You, with the annoying voice, over here!"

"Egads, it's a rat with some intelligence!" a cultured and equally annoying voice said from near the first one.

"Hey, can you write in English?" Amy cried, squeaking with all her heart.

"Of course I can!" the cultured voice answered.

"I can draw a pony! Znarf!"

"Uh, okay. I need to get a note to that girl. She needs to turn me back into a human."

The cultured voice gave a disgusted sigh and proceeded to ignore the rest of Amy's pleas. Some time later, a skinny, goofy looking rat poked its head through the bars of her cage.

"Brain doesn't believe in magic. Says its utter crap," the goofy looking rat hissed quietly. "Of course, he's a genetically spliced up lab rat with an IQ through the roof."

"Which makes you what?" Amy hissed back, waiting for the mouse to make one of its weird noises.

"Rat shape shifter," the rat grinned. "Theodore Pinkus, but you can call me Pinky. I try to sabotage lab experiments. The Brain thinks I'm just an idiot rodent, and he tries to take over the world. I sabotage him too, by acting the idiot."

"So you can shift and tell Willow how to change me back!" Amy cried excitedly.

"Oh no! Shoo, boy mouse!" Willow cried then, batting at Pinky with a heavy tome. Pinky scurried away, and Amy had a sinking feeling that Willow wouldn't be bringing her back to the library any time soon. Her next words confirmed it. "I got there just in time! Just what you don't need! A teenage pregnancy by rat on top of your stuck condition!"


	8. Hand of Sorrow

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Hand of Sorrow  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Kripke owns SPN.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Negotiations  
Words: 192  
Pairing: Lindsey McDonald/Ruby (Supernatural)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in season 3 of Angel, or before he leaves L.A.. And I like the blonde Ruby much better than brunette Ruby. Also, I made up her last name - it sounded very Puritan.

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25 Memories

  
Hand of Sorrow

"Why am I helping you again?" Ruby pursed her lips in annoyance at the little man with one hand.

"Because your boss and mine want this apocalypse to go smoothly," Lindsey smirked, not really enjoying this bit as much as he used to.

"So I get the special pardon out of hell for what - witchy work?"

"Ah, Miss Danville, you were so good at your previous work, and your broker Azazeal said that you were more than willing to do this job."

"That Yellow-eyed bastard will say anything," Ruby snapped. She, Meg, Lillith, they were all his and Lucifer's playthings. They went wherever the boss commanded them to go. Just like this little human. He'd end up someone's hell-bitch someday soon. She just knew it.

"Funny, he said you'd say that," Lindsey gave a little chuckle.

"What kind of wet work do you need me to do?"

"Undo a Christmas miracle, shall we call it?"

"You want me to fuck with the _angels_?" Ruby didn't like dealing with the angels. That way led the bad, and it was not on the schedule - yet.

"No, just the Powers and their Champion."


	9. Velvet

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Velvet  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, someone else owns the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Backalley battle meetings  
Words: 205  
Pairing: Drusilla/Mina (LXG)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: set in the early 1900s, before the Prague incident and after the events of the movie.

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25 Memories

  
Velvet

Drusilla swayed in the darkness as she watched the magician's daughter slaughter her lesser brethren. Her tasty chew-toy sliced his way through the crowd, her bulging doctor ripping vampires asunder, and her captain played with his scimitar. Drusilla knew Spike was out bringing her a meal, but she was fascinated by this contradiction of a vampire.

"You might was well come out of the shadows," Mina Harker called, her eyes locking on the woman who hid there.

"She could, but the stars tell her to listen with her ears and watch with her eyes."

"How else would one learn?" Mina frowned. "You make no sense."

"The science and the magic never do," Drusilla gave her a toothy grin. "Two of a kind, but of a different suit. Down the rabbit hole we go."

Mina watched as she dashed back into the darkness, confusion on her face. Tom Sawyer rushed to her side as Nemo and Jekyll/Hyde finished dispatching their attackers.

"What were those things?" came from the invisible Mr. Skinner.

"I believe they were vampires," Mina answered.

"Vampires? But they didn't turn into bats, and their heads were ridiculously bumpy."

"Two of a kind, but a different suit," she murmured. "Subspecies of the vampire races."


	10. I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: I Want to Hold Your Hand  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, owns .  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: And you thought your fans were bad.  
Words: 204  
Pairing: Andrew Wells/April ONeil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in the early '90's, late '80's (because the tv show was on in the late '80's when I was little, and Andrew is probably a year younger than the Buffy crew (his Hellhound raising brother was the same age as them, and he was his little brother)) I think they might have actually used this plot in one of the old cartoons.

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25 Memories

  
I Want to Hold Your Hand

"But I can't do this contest!" April O'Neil cried, trying to make her boss see reason. She had stories to cover, Turtles to praise, and evil ninjas to evade. She couldn't participate in a network publicity ploy.

"Forget it, Toots, we've already got a winner," one of the network execs chuckled, puffing on a cigar.

"Already?" April gasped. "You didn't say that you'd already started the contest!"

"Ohmygod!" a little blond haired boy hurled himself at her leg, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You'reAprilO'Neil!"

"Uh, Barry?" April hissed. "Who is this?"

"I'm Andrew Wells! I sent in a gajillion box tops and lapel pins and collector coupons just to meet the lady who found the Turtles!"

"Lapel pins? How much money did this kid fork out?"

"Plenty on the April O'Neil merchandise," the exec chuckled. April could almost imagine the cha-chings going over and over in his head and green dollar signs popping up in his eyes.

"Wait, I have _merchandise_?"

"We're making a deal with Kenner on the doll rights," Barry winced at her little snarl.

"And a tv show!" the little boy jumped up and down, his face burrowing into her hip.

"Oh, come on, can't Shredder kidnap me now?" April whimpered.


	11. Somewhere or Marley Who? x Scrooged Hero

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Somewhere  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney owns Sky High.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: You shall be visited by three spiritsand Im just clanking my chains.  
Words: 679  
Pairing: Cassie Newton/Warren Peace (Sky High)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Good God, can we smell subset? _Scrooged, Hero Style_. Part One: Marley Who? Set his freshman year, the year before Stronghold starts school and prior to the movie (And I'm making him a year older than Stronghold & crew because really, why would a junior/senior be friends with a freshman?) Also, I'm thinking loosely connected to my story _Support Structures_.

**__**

25 Memories

Somewhere  
or

_Marley Who?_

Cassie was trying her hardest not to drool at the half-naked teenager in bed. His long black with red-streaked hair was jutting up at awkward angles, and the waistband of his boxers hung low on his hips. Good God, she was a perv! Cassie shook her blonde and blue streaked hair to get a hold of herself.

She ghosted a finger over his brow, and watched the play of muscles in his face. There were just some things you took for granted when you were human. She missed the feel of her muscles working. Being dead made it effortless and weird. Like floating in water. She ghosted her fingers again and enjoyed the slow blink of gorgeous eyes and the quick fire-ball through the stomach that was produced.

"Didn't anyone tell you its rude to try and fricassee a girl on the first date?" Cassie snorted, giving him a lopsided grin.

"Who are you?" Warren Peace - and she would be ripping on his name later - clenched his fists to stop the now-spreading fire that was his dresser.

"Duh. I'm a ghost. And a guide. A guiding light, if you so choose to call me that. Or, you know, Cassie. Seeing as that's my name."

"Ghosts aren't real."

"Says the boy who's a living flame-thrower."

"You're not a -" Warren shut up the second his hand went through her left breast.

"Hey, I might be dead, but you can't cop a feel, buddy," Cassie smacked his hand out of her chest, which shocked him. "What, you've never seen the movie _Ghost_? You get me ticked off enough and I can hit you."

"Why is there a punk ghost hanging out in my bedroom? Are you the ghost of someone my dad hurt or something?" Warren's jaw tightened. Anger pulsed off him, and she didn't even need to be a psychic to get that.

"Nope. I'm facilitating a good deed. You need to deal with issues this year. Or, you will. So, me and my ghosts-in-crime need to show you the way. I was chosen because of the whole similar-hairstyles thing. Although, yours seems natural. Mine came from a box."

"Wait - what issues? You mean the whole thing where everyone thinks I'm destined to be this big bad-ass villain just because my dad is? I'm already dealing with it."

"By being a jerk to all and sundry? Yeah, that's why we got drafted, bucko." Cassie's eyes got wide as a vision - and yeah, even dead she still got those stupid visions - played out in her head. "Sins of the father, of the siblings, of the past shall not fall on the shoulders of the younger. Listen to your ghost spirits because they are wise and are kick-ass in general. Especially the hot punk-ghost. Ghosts need love."

"Huh?"

"I'm a seer. I see things, that first bit would be a psychic vision."

"Being dead makes you all-knowing?"

"First, I was a seer in life, so I'm one in death. Second, nobody is all-knowing."

"Why are you here?"

"Because, in a very traditional this-is-your-life-slash-Muppet-Christmas-Carol way, I'll be playing the role of your Marley."

"Why?"

"Because you, you lucky thing, haven't had the distinction of having a friend _die_," Cassie rolled her eyes. Her nose wrinkled up in annoyance. "Of course you also have the distinction of having no friends, and a little old Asian lady does not count. She's your employer-slash-babysitter."

"How'd you - never mind, its a psychic thing, right?"

"Nope, it was in the dossier the Powers That Be gave me on you, Warren." Cassie grinned at him, leaning forward on his bed. "So sit back, relax and be prepared to be visited by three other spirits."

And because he was annoyed and so cute at it, she really couldn't resist. She leaned forward and gave him a quick ghost-kiss. He was going to hate the next three hours, so she might as well get _some_ enjoyment out of it. It was her name he was going to cursing at the end of this little experiment.


	12. Trees or Past Tense x Scrooged, Hero

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Trees  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney owns Sky High.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: You miss these things you never got to see.  
Words: 855  
Pairing: Joyce Summers/Warren Peace (Sky High)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Good God, can we smell subset? _Scrooged, Hero Style_. Part Two: Past Tense Set his freshman year, the year before Stronghold starts school and prior to the movie (And Im making him a year older than Stronghold & crew because really, why would a junior/senior be friends with a freshman?) Kind of a prequel my story _Support Structures_. (Faith is half-sister to Warren).

**__**

25 Memories

Trees  
or

_Past Tense_

One last job, or favor really. That was all she owed the Powers. They had done very little to help her poor children, and they had dropped the ball where most of them were concerned. Joyce watched as Cassie led the boy Warren into her realm. The younger spirit had needed her guidance when she'd first come here, and Joyce was glad that she had grown into her comfort with the after-life. It did help that there were several Sunnydale alumni here in their corner of the after-life.

"Hello, Warren."

"Why does everyone here know my name?" the young man tensed up, giving Cassie an accusing look.

"Dossier," Cassie shot back. She gave Joyce a guilty look, and the older spirit knew that she'd snuck a kiss.

"Thank you, Cassie. We'll see you in a bit."

Warren looked uncomfortable as he sat down at the table in the glen. Joyce had never been at one with nature, but the glen gave her a bit of the serenity she'd never had in life.

"I'm Joyce. Did Cassie tell you what this was all about?"

"Something about a Christmas Carol," Warren grunted, looking away from her.

"She would," Joyce gave a small sigh. "I'm betting she mentioned Muppets?"

"Yeah."

"It is similar to that, but its also kind of like a counseling session as well."

"As in 'Warren's got bad-boy evil tendencies and we need to scare him straight' sessions? Because I get enough of that at school," Warren rose from his seat, prepared to walk away from her. Not that he'd get very far. Joyce gave him enough of the leash before he realized he wasn't getting anywhere. "Well, have at it then."

"It's not that kind of a session, Warren. None of us think you're evil. And not all bad-boy types are either," Joyce smiled, thinking of Spike. He was certainly evil, but he had his kind moments as well. Mainly with her and Dawn, not so much with Buffy. "Forgiveness. There are a few people in your life you don't want to forgive, isn't that right?"

"You're the one with the dossier on me."

"Your father, your sister, the couple who put your father away, and their son," Joyce nodded. "But staying mad at them for something in the past won't hurt them, Warren."

"Did I say I hated them because I wanted to hurt them?" he snapped, his hands popping out little fireballs as he got more and more annoyed at the direction of the conversation.

"No. Hating them will only rip at your soul. It doesn't do you any good to hold on to that hate," Joyce looked down at her lap. "I hated something about my daughter for a long time. She had a gift, similar to your own. I couldn't understand so much about how it changed her. How it made her better and worse. And then I met the girl who could easily take over for her. I was so eager for it all to be dumped on someone else's shoulders. Let some other poor girl take on my daughter's job. I didn't realize how hard her own life had been - she didn't even have half of what my daughter did. She was alone and had faced hardships worse than Buffy did, because at the end of the day, my daughter had her friends and her mother to lean on."

"Don't say it."

"Your sister made some bad choices. Some very bad choices. She's trying though, to make up for what she did in her youth. Just as your father is trying to redeem himself."

"And the Strongholds?" Warren spat, anger bubbling over.

"Aren't any better or worse than your family," Joyce grabbed his hand. "You don't have to make the same kind of choices your sister and father made, Warren. And I will tell you this. Those bad choices they made were all rooted in the same thing. Jealousy, fear, anger, hatred. You don't have to make those same choices. All you have to do is forgive their youth and selfishness. Because its not hurting them, its hurting you."

Joyce let go of his hand and let him sit back in his chair to stew over it. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. He was a sweet boy really. She slipped from her glen and let him sit there to soak up some peace in his heart.

"I see you couldn't keep your lips off him either," a youthful voice said from beside Cassie.

"He was half-naked when I saw him," Cassie blushed.

"And mine was a tasteful and motherly caress," Joyce smiled softly at the young man in the shadows. "You shouldn't be so jealous."

"I think our resident psychic did it because she knew I would be," he laughed, ducking farther into the shadows.

"Did you?' Joyce asked, wrapping an arm around the younger spirit.

"N-no," Cassie stuttered.

"Go lead him on to the next spirit, Cassie," Joyce shook her head as she prodded the confused teenager forward. "And refrain from kissing him again. His future girlfriend was a friend of yours."


	13. Lose Control or Present Tense x Scrooged

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Lose Control  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney owns Sky High.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: You miss these things you never got to see.  
Words: 601  
Pairing: Jesse/Warren Peace (Sky High)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Good God, can we smell subset? _Scrooged, Hero Style_. Part Three: Present Tense Set his freshman year, the year before Stronghold starts school and prior to the movie (And I'm making him a year older than Stronghold & crew because really, why would a junior/senior be friends with a freshman?) Also, I'm thinking loosely connected to my story _Support Structures_. Because he is the ultimate character that got screwed. And I needed a dude. And apparently there's a secondary theme of Jesse & Cassie.

__

25 Memories

__

Lose Control  
or

_Present Tense_

He was determined to not like the kid, simply because Cassie had kissed the mortal jerk. Jesse clicked his fingers as Mrs. Summers' peaceful glen morphed into more comfortable surroundings for the boy. Jesse had to smile at the Chinese décor of Warren's home-away-from-home. He plopped down into the booth across from the pyrokinetic, giving him a big smile.

"Number one, don't expect a kiss from me at the end of our session," Jesse started.

"Jesse!" Cassie smacked at his shoulder. She'd had to touch him again to give him the illusion of sleeping and being led to Jesse. In truth, he'd never moved.

"Well, I'm not kissing him. Nothing against you, dude, but I'm into girls," Jesse grinned.

"I'd have to set you on fire if you kissed me," Warren muttered.

"Ghost. You can't set me on fire," Jesse replied. He glanced up at Cassie. "You can go now. Ogle the boy on your own time."

"Dont' be a dick, Jesse," Cassie blushed, scurrying off. Jesse waited until she was clear before speaking again.

"And number two, don't think you're gonna get anywhere with the blonde. I've got my undead heart set on her."

"I didn't. Wait, you can hook up after you die?" Warren frowned.

"Yeah. And even though there's a six year age difference between us, you'd never know."

"Who's older?" He was intrigued.

"Me, though you'd never guess it," Jesse sobered. "She knew she was going to die. I just thought I was gonna get laid and make the girl I was crushing on jealous. I don't think she even realized I died. But if I hadnt, I'd never have met Cassie. It all worked out in the end."

"Fate."

"Dumb luck. That's all that keeps the world twirling, man," Jesse chuckled. "Anyway. I'm your ghost of Christmas present, so to speak."

"If you're a ghost, how can you be present," Warren snorted.

"I keep up on the times, and let me tell you, your present kind of rocks."

"What?"

"Okay, first off the whole fire thing is cool. And you're your own man, dude. So what if your pops and sis are convicts?"

"Shut up about them," Warren snarled.

"You're mom is fricken' awesome. You've got a lot of her in you. She's a good lady, and living up to other peoples expectations aren't worth it. I did that and you see where it got me. I'm a ghost pining after another ghost who's pining after a flesh and bone guy. It's a tragic ending."

"The woman, that Joyce lady, said something on a similar riff, man, so you're wasting your breath."

"Am I?" Jesse shrugged. "I've seen what's coming. We all have, Cassie shared the vision. Things are rough now. Always are when youre slogging through 'em. Another day, things get better. Another day, they get worse. Roll with the fireballs, little man. Shrug it off."

"And that's what you do?" Warren snapped. The lecture was getting old. "You let her slip through your fingers and act like an ass to her. You're telling me to roll with it, and yet you're dead and still sitting on your ass."

Jesse saw Cassie start to dart back in, ready to do her Vulcan death-grip maneuver on the kid. He was right in a way, Jesse was letting an opportunity slip through his fingers. Jesse was up and behind Warren before the kid even realized he'd moved. Cassie blinked those big eyes up at him, confusion on her face.

"Carpe diem," Jesse whispered against her lips as he kissed her. Warren only rolled his eyes at their antics.


	14. Whatever Happened or Future Tense x Scro

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: What Ever Happened  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney owns Sky High.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: You never know what the future is going to bring  
Words: 526  
Pairing: Amanda/Warren Peace (Sky High)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Good God, can we smell subset? _Scrooged, Hero Style_. Part Two: Past Tense Set his freshman year, the year before Stronghold starts school and prior to the movie (And I'm making him a year older than Stronghold & crew because really, why would a junior/senior be friends with a freshman?) Prequel my story _Support Structures_. (Faith is half-sister to Warren).

**__**

25 Memories

What Ever Happened  
or

_Future Tense_

Warren had wandered away from the ghost couple making out. The older woman was nowhere to be found, and the restaurant had blinked out into the hallway of a normal looking high school. A skinny girl with long brown hair stared at him.

"Let me guess, ghost of Christmas-yet-to-pass?" Warren rolled his eyes.

She nodded, but didn't speak. She just stood there, sizing him up. Warren had a bad feeling that she was going to pull the whole mime routine.

"I could take you," she shrugged. "You look like a meat-head jock. And I've beat the shit out of your type before. That was before I had slayer-strength."

"Okay. But you're a ghost, and you can't touch me, right?"

"Sometimes. I'm Amanda."

"Warren."

"Dossier. I know."

"So get on with the lecture of my needing to forgive and make good choices."

"Why should I bother? Cassie's shared her visions with all of us. We all know how this is going to go down. If you listen to a lecture or not, its only a small part of this whole therapy session."

"Then what the hell am I doing here if it doesn't matter?" Warren snapped, glaring at the girl.

"I never said the Powers made sense," Amanda rolled her eyes. "I'm supposed to preach on how being angry and vengeful will only lead to trouble. Nothing good happened to me and I was all about the vengeance or whatever. Apparently, I'm the poster-child for anger management ads. Slam one football player's head into the windshield of his daddy's car and suddenly you're a problem child."

"You did what?"

"And I died a violent and bloody end at the hands of uber-vampires. Saving the stupid world. And all the jocks that inhabit it."

"Jeez, Amanda, can you be more cheerful?" Cassie said hurriedly rushing back towards them from where she'd been hanging off of Jesse. "She can be a bit - much to handle."

"Says the ghost who hooked up with the first dead guy she saw," Amanda rolled her eyes again.

"I gotta say, I like her," Warren gave her a small, sad smile. "It sucks that you're dead. You'd have been a cool friend to have."

Cassie and Amanda gave him a confused look. Warren's smile grew as he moved forward and gave Amanda a small ghost of a kiss on her forehead. Amanda's eyes got heavy with unshed tears. She gave him a not so gentle punch to the shoulder and cleared her throat.

"I've got some advice for you. You treat those girls good, or I'll come haunt your ass. And avoid the suit. He's a pain in the ass," Amanda chewed her lip. "Hot, but a pain in the ass."

Warren frowned. What suit? Before he could ask for clarification, Joyce appeared behind Amanda with an arm around Jesse's shoulder. She gave him an encouraging smile while Cassie put him back under. The three spirits hoped their little sessions would help, and Cassie gave them a confidant grin. Let the senior partners try what they would. Their girls, and the son of an enemy would sway him over to the good fight.


	15. Tidings Not of Joy x Scrooged, Hero

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Paint It Black  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Disney owns Sky High.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Temptednot really  
Words: 487  
Pairing: Marcus Hamilton/Warren Peace (Sky High)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: End of the _Scrooged, Hero Style _subset. Part Five: Tidings Not of Joy. Set his freshman year, the year before Stronghold starts school and prior to the movie (And I'm making him a year older than Stronghold & crew because really, why would a junior/senior be friends with a freshman?) Prequel to my story _Support Structures_, and the middle of season five for Angel. Forgiveness and Redemption are always tested. And apparently, there's another pairing hidden in here (besides the Jesse/Cassie and Warren/Kit (yeah that's the couple for SS).

**__**

25 Memories

Paint It Black  
or

_Tidings Not of Joy_

Four spirits watched as Warren bolted up in his bed. An hour later, Mrs. Peace was running around getting ready for work and Warren was eating a bowl of cereal trying to remember that weird dream hed had the night before.

"Don't forget you're starting at the Paper Lantern today, Warren," Angela Myste-Peace gave her son a kiss on the head as she raced for the door. "Mrs. Chen is expecting you at eleven for the lunch rush."

"I'm not likely to forget, Mom."

He'd just finished cleaning up his breakfast dishes when the knock on the door came. Warren felt his body tense up. Something was fishy. There was a little doubt niggling at the back of his mind.

Behind him, the four unseen spirits huddled close. The blonde girl and lone male clung to each other, while the older blonde woman placed a calming hand on the brunette girl who looked like she wanted to hurt whoever was on the other side of the door.

It took all of Marcus Hamilton's well-paid for cool to keep from reacting to the five hostile glares. Scratch that, he had to react to young Mr. Peace's glare.

"Are you Warren Peace?" Marcus gave him a reassuring smile. He hated having to give him this stupid no-I'm-not-evil look.

"Yeah?" Warren grunted.

_"Oh, cause he's gonna buy your evil I-come-in-peace look, Hamilton_," Amanda, the fallen slayer snorted.

"I'm Marcus Hamilton from the Wolfram & Hart law firm, I've got some information regarding your sister, Faith?" Marcus held out a dossier to him. Warren gave it a dirty look before looking back up at him.

"Who?"

_"He hates his sister, so playing the sympathetic card isn't cutting it,"_ the slayer laughed.

"Faith Lehane."

"What did the convict do now?" Warren feigned a bored look. "We're not bailing her out."

"She's escaped again."

"Really?"

_"Like Buffy and Mr. Giles didn't already contact them once the Council was back in action, you dill-hole," _Amanda grinned.

_"Maybe you should stop that, Amanda. The vein in his neck looks ready to blow,"_ Jesse chuckled, but his hand gripped Cassie's tightly.

"My firm represents her -"

"No, it doesn't. The _Council's_ firm represents her. I don't know what you're selling, but we're not buying."

Warren slammed the door in his face, and left the liaison alone with the four spirits. Marcus crunched the dossier in his hand as three of the four of them disappeared. The slayer stayed to gloat.

_"You suck at your job, Hamilton,"_ Amanda taunted.

"Go to hell, slayer," Marcus spat.

_"You first,"_ she smirked.

"Go haunt some more pubescent boys, slayer," Marcus huffed back down the walk.

_"Why? Haunting you is so much more fun."_

Warren frowned at the muttering lawyer. What the hell did his half-sister get herself into now? Scratch that, he didn't care what Faith did anymore. It wasn't his problem, just like the creepy lawyer wasn't his problem.


	16. The King of Carrot Flowers xx SpencerSum

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: The King of Carrot Flowers  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, USA owns Psych.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Cousins gang up on each other  
Words: 223  
Pairing: Dawn Summers/Shawn Spencer  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in '91, the year before divorce (I think that was in 1992). Connected to the other Psych stories in the Holidaze series. Shawn's fourteen, Buffy's ten, and Dawn is five. Another made-up Dawn memory.

__

**__**

25 Memories

  
The King of Carrot Flowers

"But Shawnie, you promised!" Dawn Summers tugged on her older cousin, and the teenager had flashbacks of when Buffy was her age.

"Gus and I have a very busy night of watching an important A-Team marathon," Shawn explained slowly.

"But you p-pwomise!" Dawn hiccupped as her chin wibbled.

"Aww, don't do that, Dawnie!" Shawn moaned. "You know I'm powerless when you do that!"

Dawn sniffled and looked up at him with big teary eyes. Shawn knew then that he was doomed. Buffy laughed at him, and Gus just looked resigned.

"Shawnie'll play Ponies?" Dawn broke into a big grin as she held up a bright pink pony with sparkly blue hair. "That's Shawnie pony, and the yucky yellow one is Buffy pony, an that purple pony is Gus pony!"

"I am not a purple pony, Shawn," Gus snapped before his best friend could make any kind of comment. "I cannot believe I'm stuck playing ponies with your little cousins."

"I'm too old to play with ponies," Buffy huffed. "There's nothing else to do here!"

"An, Shawnie, this is my Dawnie pony. She's white and sparkly and the bestest! Way better than the Buffy pony!"

Shawn shrugged at Gus. His cousins only came over twice a year. He could give up some of his precious time. The first episode was a crappy one anyway.


	17. Under the Gun xxx Spencer&Summers family

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Under the Gun  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, owns .  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Meeting the family.  
Words: 571  
Pairing: Angel/Shawn Spencer (Psych)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Connected to the Spencer-Summers family series. Set in '97-'98. Before Angel went evil in season two.  
A/N2: I do not take sides in the Bangel or Spuffy wars. I loved them both when they were happening - no matter how self-destructive both relationships were for her. If it seems like I'm favoring one over another, I'm not. I love all the characters equally. Now that that's off my chest, onto the fic.

__

**__**

25 Memories

  
Under the Gun

Angel slipped back in to the shadows. It was hard enough staying away from Buffy, but it was a stab in the gut to see her hanging on the young human man with good hair. Angel raised a self-conscious hand to his own hair. Buffy should be dating a vibrant stupid human. Their hug was just a little too long for him.

"And are you ever going to introduce me to the creep in the shadows?" his voice shocked Angel out of his thoughts.

"He's not a creep, Shawn!" Buffy lightly smacked the man on his shoulder.

"He's stalking my little cousin, that makes him a creep."

"Do you want me to call your dad?" she threatened.

"I'm Angel," Angel stepped forward into the porch light.

"I'm Mad Dog Murdoch and this is my associate, Persimmon Tea," Shawn nodded to Buffy who only glared at him. "And who does your hair? Honestly?"

"Shawn, quit being a jerk. Angel, this is my cousin Shawn. He, uh, dropped in unexpectedly on us," Buffy sighed. "And unfortunately he won't stick with playing ponies with Dawn."

"There's only so many hours in a day that I can make that kind of commitment. And anyway, you didn't explain who he is, other than a snappy dresser with good hair," Shawn narrowed his eyes. "What kind of product do you use?"

"It's a new formula. Uses a special blend of citrus -"

"Oh my god, you are not hitting up my boyfriend for beauty tips, Shawn!" Buffy cut him off.

"Guy's got good hair. And what's with this term 'boy friend'?" Shawn glared at Angel. "I think that big of an age difference is illegal in this state."

"Shawn, you don't even know how old he is!"

"He's older than me, Buff, so I know he's too old for you."

"We're not really dating," Angel interrupted the makings of a good fight.

That brilliant comment earned him a glare from both cousins. Angel fidgeted. This was not good.

"Oh really?"

"You guys know that it's weird when you talk at the same time?" Dawn piped up from behind them. "And I don't play with ponies anymore, Buffy!"

"Dawn, get back inside the house!" Buffy yelled. "You're not supposed to be out after dark."

"Sunset is her curfew? That bites," Shawn frowned.

"Precisely," Angel muttered.

"Angel, I'll talk to you later," Buffy groaned, dragging Dawn back toward the doorway. "Shawn, dinner's almost done, and Mom made Pineapple upside down cake for you."

Shawn waited a beat or two before starting to follow his younger cousins back into the house. He looked at Angel for a moment before speaking to him.

"I know I most likely can't take you in a fight. A food one probably. I have a mean aim, and tons of practice in the field. But you hurt my baby cousin in anyway - and to clarify, I mean _Buffy_, I will come up with new and inventive ways to make you hurt. I don't know how. Don't know when, but I'll find a way," Shawn said quietly and far more seriously than he'd been with his cousins. "Probably with a shovel. Where's the cake, Aunt Joyce?"

Angel stared at the shut door for several moments. The Summers family was full of small, scary people. He'd just turned to leave when the door jerked open again. Shawn stuck his head out.

"Hey, who makes that hair gel again?"


	18. Psycho Killer

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Psycho Killer  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Munson & Koslow own Moonlight.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Leading him on.  
Words: 154  
Pairing: Darla/Lola (Moonlight)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in the late 1800's.

__

**__**

25 Memories

  
Psycho Killer

"Don't you think that's a little obvious, Lola darling?" Darla chuckled, taking another sip from the golden goblet. A dozen or so vampires danced around the small hall, taking greedy gulps of blood from their willing and unwilling victims.

Three or four of them crowded together at the head table. They were feasting and holding court, it was a time of celebration after all. Lola laughed at some joke one of the others had said, but Darla's gaze was still locked on the vampire lurking in the corner.

"How long are you planning on stringing him along, Lola?"

"Whoever do you mean?" Lola chuckled.

"The handsome vampire in the corner," Darla gave a discreet nod to where Josef drank freely, his eyes never leaving Lola.

"I'll stop stringing him along once I figure out his worth," Lola said quietly. "He could be extremely important to my goals...or an utter disappointment. I haven't decided yet."


	19. Every Day is Halloween x Chaos & Capers

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Every Day is Halloween  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, someone else owns Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Causing mischief wherever they go.  
Words: 264  
Pairing: Ethan Rayne/Carmen Sandiego  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Mentor...with a little sumthin' extra... And these are his pre-demon cult raising days.

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25 Memories

  
Every Day is Halloween

"And that is how you get yourself and your crew nabbed by Interpol," Carmen shook her head of lustrous chestnut curls in disgust. "Do not follow the example of my contract workers, Ethan, dear."

"Can't you go directly to the source, Carmen?" Ethan frowned up at his mentor and crush. "Why waste your time with middle men and back alley deals?"

"Because then I'd be sullying my hands, and I need to keep my distance from the act. I'm not culpable if theres nothing to tie me to the crime."

Carmen shook away the memory as she hurriedly tucked the large Peruvian diadem into her briefcase. She'd hesitated before even showing this to him. Young Ethan was a quick learner, a handsome and rebellious teen, and honestly she didn't need anyone new in her international gang of thieves, troublemakers, and masterminds. But there was something about young Ethan and drew her each time. But this - this was different. His adoration was heady and - _he_ was heady. An eager student in all things she could teach him.

She should have known better than to trust him. Unfortunately she'd found that out both hours and months later. Ethan, her most prized protégé had both given and taken from her that long ago night of shared confidences. He'd stolen the real diadem and he'd left her with child. Little Bela Rayne-Sandiego. Of course, she'd secreted their daughter away, given her a different name. Her latest heist was too important for Rayne to muck up, and she'd be damned if she told him of their daughter.


	20. I Want It That Way x Chaos & Capers

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: I Want It That Way  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Kripke owns SPN.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: The apple doesnt fall far from the tree  
Words: 240  
Pairing: Ethan Rayne/Bela Talbot (SPN)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set in '01, three years after Bela made the deal, and one year after we last see Ethan in canon. Implied Carmen/Ethan.

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25 Memories

  
I Want It That Way

"What the hell do you mean I've got a teenager?" Ethan roared across the table at the woman decked out in a fedora and long red duster.

"Do you think I wanted you to ever know, you slimy little bastard?" Carmen shot back, dislodging a pear from the display. "What kind of example would you set on an impressionable child?"

"I'm sorry, a chaos-bringer is so much worse than a renowned thief and mafia don!"

Bela slapped her palms onto the table loudly, getting both of her parents attention. She was reminded of the many reasons she'd made that deal three years ago. Honestly, one set of false parents weren't any better than the real ones. Bickering, threatening and pointing of fingers. You'd think _they_ were teenagers. Of course, there was the obvious age gap between the two of them that was alarming. Handsome younger father, still equally beautiful if older mother. She'd inherited some good genes to carry her through her golden years - if she actually had any to look forward to.

"Mummy, Daddy, can we not spoil the fabulous meal?" Bela pasted on a saccharine sweet smile and proceeded to work her parents.

They'd give up that damned diadem and help her crawl her way back out of her deal with Lilith even if she had to shoot them both to get what she needed. She was the daughter of a notorious thief and Chaos worshiper after all.


	21. I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Ive Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, someone else owns That 70s Show.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: You remind me of someone  
Words: 341  
Pairing: Vaughne/Fez (That 70s Show)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Okay, Megalyn Echikunwoke (the girl who played Vaughne) has been in like five of my fandoms (Buffy, Supernatural, The 4400, That 70's Show and CSI:Miami). I couldn't remember who she was (its been that long since I've watched season 7 o.O) and I ended up rewatching disc four the other night. Also found PotC:Dead Mans Chest stuck in there instead of disc one, but that's a whole other random fact.)  
A/N2: The title references all of the stuff the gang got up to back in the day. Set in season 6.

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25 Memories

  
I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea

Vaughne gathered up the last of the plates and tins from this week's bake sale The profits were going to go a long way for the mini-fest the coven was planning for this year's Winter Solstice.

"Oh no! Do not tell me we've missed the last of the candy sale!" an older foreign man cried, rushing for the table.

Vaughne jerked upright, the voice niggling at the back of her mind. The older man was flagged by a younger woman who looked utterly embarrassed at his antics. He gave a contented sigh when he saw the baked goods still on the table, especially the brownies for some reason.

"Did I ever tell you about the time Red, Kitty, Midge and Bob ate Hyde's special brownies?" the man chuckled. Once again, Vaughne felt a niggle of recognition. Why did that story sound familiar?

"Yes, Daddy, you've told me that story a billion times. And it's still not a good idea to tell your kids about the time your and your friends got the Foremans and the Pinciottis stoned, Daddy."

"Ah, the good times," He turned to face Vaughne. "I will take all of your brownies please."

"Daddy, Mom's gonna kill you if you spend her present money on brownies! Again!"

"Don't be silly, Jackie will eat the brownies as well!" He smiled at Vaughne. "To go, Angie."

"You know her?" his daughter frowned at Vaughne, who said at the same time, "My name's Vaughne."

"I'm sorry, you look so much like her. I don't know what I was thinking."

Vaughne bagged up his three plates of brownies and watched as the duo walked back toward the dorms. She picked up her cell phone and dialed her uncle's number.

"Hey, Uncle Steven, did you ever bake special brownies for Uncle Red and Aunt Kitty?" Vaughne demanded.

"Who told you that?" Uncle Steven said quietly.

"A foreign guy who just dropped his wife's present money on three plates of brownies."

"Heh," Uncle Steven chuckled over the phone. "I didn't know Fez was in California!"


	22. Don't Ask Me xxx Spencer&Summers family

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Dont Ask Me  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Franks (finally figured it out!) owns Psych.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Helpful advice.  
Words: 313  
Pairing: Joyce Summers/Shawn Spencer (Psych)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: My response to the season 8 comics.

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25 Memories

  
Don't Ask Me

"You better not hog my Hawaiian, you little -"

"Shawn, there's more than enough to go around," Joyce admonished from the kitchen, letting Dawn and Shawn take the large boxes of pizza from her.

"I don't like this," Buffy complained from behind her mother.

"Don't like what, Buffy?"

"Shawn. Being in there all alone with my friends," Buffy glared at her cousin through the door. The whole meeting/threatening Angel episode was still fresh in her mind.

"I think Xander and Willow can handle themselves around Shawn."

"But you didn't even let me warn them about him!" And after last night, and the big think-tank session with Giles, there'd been no opportunity to warn them.

"Shawn will behave himself."

In the hall to the dinning room, Shawn thought out his strategy. Having heard his younger cousin's complaints, he'd decided to play a bit with her friends. He relaxed his stride and walked into the room to face down the teenage bag of hormones that was one of his cousin's two best friends. The red-head was shy and introverted. The boy - he'd been one of those once. It couldn't be good.

Before he could even get warmed up to go all scary-older male cousin on him, he felt a warning hand on his shoulder. Buffy slipped past him, snagging the pizza box from him and giving him a dirty look while Joyce pulled him aside.

"You're not even going to let me get to the good part, are you?" Shawn let his shoulders sink in mock depression.

"Shawn, Xander is harmless. He and Buffy are just very good friends," Joyce smiled knowingly at her nephew. A mischievous glint played in her eyes. "Besides, it's Dawn who's got the crush on him, you know."

"Really. I find this vastly illuminating," Shawn cackled.

"That was a little creepy, honey," Joyce chuckled.

"Right. Not going for uber-villain. Gotcha."


	23. Sweet Polly Oliver

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Sweet Polly Oliver  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Kripke owns SPN.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Consultant gig.  
Words: 231  
Pairing: Lorne/Missouri Mosely (Supernatural)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Changed the pairing about five times before I liked it.

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25 Memories

  
Sweet Polly Oliver

It wasn't everyday she saw a green man walking down the middle of the street. And in such a fine looking suit too. Too bad he was a demon. Would have almost made him debonair. Lord knew, men with taste were far and few in Lawrence, Kansas. At least to her limited knowledge.

So, Missouri wasn't overly surprised to see the green man come into her shop two days later.

"Aggie sent you to pester me? Whatever for?' Missouri hmphed as she gave him a good once over. "You should do it you know, make a haven for your kind."

"Sweet darling, I already knew that!" he trilled merrily. "What I wanted to know was the skinny on the vamp with the soul."

"You mean you can't read him?" Missouri frowned at him.

"Well, he's a vamp. Notoriously hard to read, you know. I can only work when the channels are wide open."

"Sing a little song, sugar," Missouri smiled at him. "Ain't a person in the world, be they dead or otherwise who won't try and slaughter a good song. And you have to be plenty open for that train wreck. Add a little karaoke."

"I knew Aggie sent me here for a reason," Lorne laughed, squeezing Missouri's hand. "Now, you keep an ear out for any interesting song birds for me, okay? Be sure to send 'em to Caritas!"


	24. Furious Angels

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Furious Angels  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, uh, WB owns Dawsons Creek.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Losing out on what you never really had.  
Words: 449  
Pairing: Kendra/Nikki Green (Dawsons Creek)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: This is another depresso-rama for Kendra. Y'all have been warned.

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25 Memories

  
Furious Angels

Nikki bolted upright in her bed, her heart racing as she jerked her hand to her throat. She pulled it away and breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn't come back bloody. Her head dropped to her hands as a fearful shiver coursed over her spine. It had been a dream, a horrible, horrible dream. No crazy white chick had slit her throat with her claw-like nails.

"What do you mean there was a clerical error?"

Nikki's head jerked up towards the sound of her father's voice. She glanced at her bedside clock. Who could he be talking to this late about a simple clerical error? She could hear his footsteps coming closer to her room, and she quickly yanked the covers back up and pretended to be asleep just as the door quietly opened.

"I am looking at my daughter right now. She's asleep in her bed," he hissed angrily through the phone. "I don't know what you're playing at, but I only have one living daughter."

Nikki sucked in a breath. _Living_ daughter? What the hell did that mean?

"Yes, she's sixteen. What?" There was a lengthy silence as he listened to whatever this other person was saying. "No. Her twin sister was stillborn. She never -"

Whatever her father had been about to say was blocked out by Nikki's sudden lack of hearing. Her _twin_. She wasn't a twin. She'd never had a sister. Someone was lying. What were they lying about? Her hand clenched onto the metal bar of her headboard as tears of betrayal formed in her eyes.

"_It's time, little sister_," a mirror image of herself whispered at her in a strange accent. Nikki blinked at the sad smile on the girl's face.

The image was gone in a flash when a groan of metal knocked Nikki from her stupor. Everything - even things Nikki couldn't possibly know - flew through her mind. Her mother giving birth to two squirming babies, a nurse covering the mouth of one of the girls and claiming it to be stillborn. Her parents' grief of the loss of her sister, and the joy of having her survive. A little girl in braids being taught to fight far too young, a lonely existence of nothing but training for a fight far too big for one girl to handle. Finding a happy balance between the two lives, and then boom - having that life snatched away.

"Nikki - Nikki! What happened in here?" Her father's face was in front of her suddenly, scared and anxious.

"They killed her. They killed my big sister," Nikki sobbed. "They took her away before I got to find her and save her."


	25. Blood xxx Spencer&Summers family

Series: 25 Memories  
Title: Blood  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR-15  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Joss owns the Buffyverse, Franks owns Psych.  
Series Summary: 25 December themed ficlets, with a FfA twist.  
Part Summary: Real family is there for you when you need them the most.  
Words: 279  
Pairing: Buffy Summers/Henry Spencer (Psych)  
Series A/N: All titles are song titles. A fanmix was involved. All of the ficlets are either set pre-series or to the end seasons seven/five (2003/2004). They're memories.  
A/N: Set just after the Body (which happened around/just after Christmas! They were having Christmas dinner!)

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25 Memories

  
Blood

He was surprised his old rattletrap truck could handle the speeds he was pulling, as fast as he was going. He'd already been pulled over twice, but a flash of his badge and a mumbled excuse of the death in the family had the cops looking the other way and giving him a warning to slow it down. Not that he'd listened. He'd tried getting a hold of Shawn, but the best he could do was to pass the message through to Gus.

The front door was flung open the minute he parked in front of the house. All he saw was a blur as Dawn pelted to his side, her arms clinging to him as if she thought he was going to vanish. Two women who looked to be the same age as Buffy weren't far behind, concern in their eyes as they watched Dawn throw herself at him.

"Shh, I got you, Sunshine. I got you," Henry pressed a kiss to the top of her head, holding the teen tightly to him. "I'm Henry Spencer, the girls' uncle."

"Tara, Willow! Where's -" Buffy rushed down the porch steps, fear in her eyes.

In that moment, she reminded him so much of her mother. Emotion lodged in his throat, reminding him that this sweet innocent woman had been taken from them. That her girls, her precious girls, had been left alone to fend for themselves. Henry watched as Buffy's lip quivered at the sight of him. He stretched out his free arm and Buffy was there in a minute, clinging to him as fiercely as Dawn was.

"I got you. Uncle Henry's here now, I got you both."


End file.
